


One Minute is All I Need

by mcschnuggles



Series: Schnugg's Regressuary 2021 [11]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, CGRE - Caregiver/Age Regressor, Caregiver!Kaede, Gen, Regressing!Shuichi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 00:07:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29359251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcschnuggles/pseuds/mcschnuggles
Summary: Shuichi has been married for about a month, and has known his wife for just as long. They're still trying to figure out the nuances of their relationship.
Relationships: Akamatsu Kaede/Saihara Shuichi
Series: Schnugg's Regressuary 2021 [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2138382
Comments: 5
Kudos: 20
Collections: Regressuary, Regressuary 2021





	One Minute is All I Need

Shuichi finds himself married the second he turns eighteen.

When his parents called him, he was expecting congratulations, either on his graduation or for making it into his preferred college. Instead, they told him he was getting married later that week, and what opinions he had on the matter were all but irrelevant.

It was a good look for their image. The nobody son of a writer and an actor, married to the world’s most famous musician? His parents had the contract drafted before he and his fiancée even met, and her parents, born into poverty, couldn’t sign fast enough.

He wanted to see the best in his parents, but he knew he couldn’t. At the end of the day, this was a business transaction, and now that Shuichi was a viable asset, he could finally be invited along on their travels.

Shuichi returns home just a little after five. It’s hard to find work at any detective agencies, but his newfound status helps land him jobs where he can. He doesn’t have to work, but it gives him something to do and puts his mind at ease. If he’s learned anything from having the parents he does, it’s to always have a backup plan.

His wife is sitting at the piano. His _wife_. They’ve barely known each other a month and have been married that entire time.

“Hey there! Welcome home!” Kaede beams at him, as if nothing is wrong. As if meeting someone on your wedding day is the most normal thing on the planet.

But he can’t fault her for going along with what’s been put in front of her. Not to mention that she’s a literal ray of sunshine that makes his day better just by existing. There are worse people to be married to.

“Hey, yeah. Thanks.”

“I ordered a pizza for dinner. I hope that’s okay.”

“Sounds great.” He’s never been picky about meals, especially growing up with his uncle, so pizza is fine by him. “What have you been up to today?”

That’s a good script to go by, right? It all feels so awkward coming out of his mouth, but he supposes it’s because of the person he’s talking to. He and Kaede get along fine, but it’s still weird to try forcing small talk with his wife.

“Oh, I’ve been composing!” Kaede chirps. She scoots over on the piano bench, giving him the space to come join her. “Your father was so nice that he gave me a spot composing for the movie he’s writing for!”

“Nice” doesn’t even begin to describe it. At best, it’s underhanded and at worst, it’s pure exploitation. Maybe it’s that he’s used to his father’s antics, that “favor for favor” is just the family dynamic. She _is_ getting paid, after all. Shuichi just wonders how big the difference is between her paycheck and his father’s.

“That’s awesome!” Shuichi joins her on the bench. The piano feels like sacred territory, one that he can’t even approach if he isn’t explicitly invited to. “How’s it been going?”

“Pretty good!” She takes the sheet music off the shelf and shuffles through it.

There have to be at least a dozen pages, all with some degree of writing on them. On a couple, it’s no more than a few lines, but others look like full scores in the making.

“I’m going to show off a couple of the leitmotifs and maybe a working idea for the main theme, just to see if they like it? The thing about the main theme is that I want it to incorporate the main characters’ leitmotifs, sort of foreshadowing the entire plot with—” She breaks off, her smile turning apologetic. “I’m sorry, this really isn’t making any sense, is it?”

“Explain it to me, then.” Shuichi barely understands music, and sometimes Kaede will get so swept up in her own excitement that she forgets to explain the basics, but he doesn’t really mind it.

It feels like he’s getting a peek into her heart when she lays her passions bare like that. Lord knows Shuichi could use some of that. What’s he going to do? Get that excited about novels? Solving mysteries? He’s known for years that he’s the most boring guest at any given dinner party.

Kaede grins, as if Shuichi has just given her the universe by offering to listen. “Sure!”

She almost immediately loses him by talking about an opera composer named Wagner, but he’s able to get the gist. A leitmotif is like a theme. If he were to compare it to novels, it’s like a recurring symbol.

Even if he doesn’t understand completely, he understands why Kaede is excited. She’s basically laying the framework for the entire soundtrack, which not only sounds like a big responsibility, but also incredibly cool.

“But enough about me,” Kaede says. She’s still smiling, like talking to him is the highlight of her day. “How was your day? Did you uncover any murder mysteries? Take out a mafia boss?”

Shuichi chuckles despite himself. “Nothing like that. I hate to tell you, but you’re forever going to be the interesting spouse. I just followed up on a missing persons case and helped trace a couple family trees.”

“But that’s so interesting! You’re helping people, Shuichi, and I just make music.” Her face burns as she mentions that out loud. “You should give yourself more credit.”

“I guess so.” Shuichi blushes back, which has come to be a huge roadblock in their relationship. It’s hard for them to both say what they really feel when they’re so prone to dissolving into a pair of blushing, stuttering dorks.

Kaede hums in sympathy, noting the bags under his eyes. “It was a long day, huh?”

There’s distance between them, one they’re still finding out how to close, but in that moment, Kaede cups his cheek and it couldn’t feel more natural.

Shuichi can’t help leaning into the touch, the exhaustion hitting him all at once. His uncle used to tease him about being a workaholic, but it’s more that Shuichi doesn’t know his own limits. He doesn’t even realize how much he’s worked until someone else points it out.

“You’re looking pretty tired there, buddy,” Kaede continues, her voice incredibly soft. “Do you need a minute?”

“A minute.” That’s what they’ve been calling it. Every so often, especially when he gets far enough into his own head about being his parents’ puppet, he needs “a minute.”

Whatever happens in that minute isn’t talked about afterwards. If he cries, he cries. If he bites his thumb, well, that’s okay too. If he needs a hug, or needs to be rocked to sleep, it’s just what needs to happen. Neither of them want to talk about it or try to put it into words.

Putting it into words makes it dangerous. Putting it into words means it could end up as a scandal, and he could tank his parents’ careers in less than a week. So instead, they don’t put a word to it.

Shuichi puts his own words to it, though. “Regressing” is the most popular one he’s found in his research, but he’d never tell Kaede that.

He nods at her words, the exhaustion creeping into him all at once.

“I’ll play a couple songs if you’d like,” Kaede offers. She scoots to the far end of the bench, giving him plenty of room to lie down.

Most of their “minutes” are spent on the piano bench. Shuichi’s been thinking of getting a cushion, or maybe buying a different bench altogether, but the hardness and minimal space has almost become its own kind of comfort.

He curls up, his head pillowed against her lap.

Kaede’s hand musses his hair. “How about some _Clair de Lune_ , huh, baby?”

He does like that song. Out of all the classics Kaede talks about, it’s the only one that’s come up frequently enough for him to remember the name. It helps that Kaede plays it so pretty—soft, but soulful, like it’s a performance just for him.

Shuichi nods, letting his thumb creep up to his mouth. The left side of his thumb is chewed to pieces, a bad habit he’s never been able to break, but Kaede doesn’t scold him for it. Sometimes he wishes she would, but he knows their relationship isn’t at that level.

Shuichi closes his eyes, letting the sound wash over him as Kaede plays the gentle opening notes.

He only needs a minute.

**Author's Note:**

> mcschnuggles.tumblr.com


End file.
